South Africa, Nov. 13 -- We've become too clever and too complicated.

We're trying to say too many things and make every piece of communication do too much. We're not thinking hard enough about what we're actually asking of our audience - and it's showing where it matters most: the bottom line of the brands agencies represent.

Nothing is important

Today's consumer encounters advertising across virtually every touchpoint in their day - from the phone screen they scroll over their morning coffee, to the billboard on their commute, to the television they sit down in front of after dinner.

Cutting through that clutter takes enormous effort, yet we still use our limited opportunity to try to land multiple, often complicated, messages at on...